Snow on sets

Well its snowing pretty good and as of now they are calling for 3 to 6 inches. Im curious as to how many inches it would take to stop a coyote set from working. I would just wait till after the storm but would like to get some sets out since its the weekend. Im using number 2 size traps and am planning to wait till later in the day so some of the storm is passed but if i go make some sets and lets say 5 inchesof snow fall after will these sets still be operational? I know this is probably a dumb question but i know their paw will sink into the snow some and be closer to the trap so i dont really know how much snow will be to much. Thanks for helping.

Good question! I have often wonder this also. If it is cold and there is 1 inch of snow on my sets It doesn't bother me. But if it is warm sticky snow a remove it before it freezes. The thing with 5 - 6 inches of snow I think you loose a lot of your eye appeal. I don't know for sure, would be nice to here from some long liner guys that deal with snow.

A lot more than a guy would believe imo exact amounts unsure.???
Once the snow changes time to clean sets

In the last 2 years snow has come a bit early around here, either started in it or soon after start about 70%of my coyotes are caught in snowy condition .

I agree they do seem to move the most when its snowing and as far as it taking eye appeal away u could also look at it the other way and say it blends the set in real well which might be better than eye appeal on shyer dogs anyways

I'll take 6" of snow over my sets vs 1/2" with bitter cold temps

Enough snow insulates the ground and allows the ground to stay soft while still letting the bait/lure odor continue to work well

JMO

Living and trapping in the snow belt south of Buffalo (Go Bills), I deal with lots of snow. I usually put the MB550's away and go to the Duke #3's. The larger jaw spread helps for a higher pad catch when the snow piles up on top of the pan.

When the snow flies It's time to start hanging cable.

It all depend son what your traps are bedded with. If your using peat or waxed dirt you might be good to go. If your just using regular dirt It will absorb moisture and If the temps are cold enough It will freeze putting you out of business.

When dealing with snow I would just rake away all the snow from the set . It will give you great eye appeal and you will catch critters. You just need the right bedding material to keep the traps operational.

Depends on the snow.

6” of dry, light snow probably won’t impede trap performance.

Whereas 1” of wet, heavy snow, or crusted snow could dramatically reduce efficacy.

As long as I feel the set is still working, I let the snow sit. Only when I feel it’s impeding set and trap performance do I remove the snow.

I HATE having to dealing with snow! I use a household broom and sweep my sets off as soon as the snow quits/as soon as I can get to them. I bed all my traps (victor #3's) in dry dirt (not waxed unfortunately), so its important for me to get them swept off before the snow melts any and freezes my sets down. I do believe the eye appeal can help attract coyotes to the sets, but also keeps some of the leery ones at a distance at least for a few days until they are comfortable with the set.

Anybody got any tips for remakes when there is snow on the ground? Hate dealing with frozen mud/dirt and I usually just move the set over a couple of feet. I keep about 25-30 gals of dry dirt stored for remakes in wet/frozen ground but I'd like to increase my re-make catches this year in snowy conditions.

I carry a small square point shovel to move snow and flatten off the set area. I bed in waxed sand and use peat or local duff for covering traps. We've had a substantial snow covering most of the season so the ground isn't frozen and the scrapings make for good eye appeal. I'm targeting cats and fisher.

Speaking of snow on sets. Fox went nuts last night after a series of storms blew through leaving us with the better part of a foot of snow on the ground. More in some places. Fox tracks were everywhere. Decided it was time to try a hay set. Straw in this instance. I cut out an igloo shape block of snow, drove my super stakes in and repacked the snow. Spread out some straw, bedded two Bridger 1.5s as best I could and lightly covered the traps with more straw. Added some bobcat urine (didn't have fox urine) and a bit of Caven's Hiawatha tucked under the backing. I'll post pics if it works.

are you putting the trap under the hay?

Yep. I placed the set two days ago. They worked the set the night before last, but not hard. I added a bit of lure to it yesterday and will be out making my checks in an hour or so. I'll post pics if there's anything worth reporting.